It has only been 122 years since the Wright brothers made the first controlled flight with the Wright Flyer at Kill Devil Hills on December 17, 1903. Almost a century later, Boeing announced the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in 2003, and Airbus proposed the A350 aircraft in 2004. The design and manufacturing of aircraft have undergone significant changes in less than a century. In a new century, far more is now possible.
Back in Dayton, Ohio, the Wright brothers built the aircraft using spruce and ash wood, and the power source of the Wright Flyer comes from a 12-horsepower gasoline engine. While the Wright Flyer could only take one person at a time, modern aircraft, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350, can easily take over 300 people above the clouds.
At Boeing South Carolina, passersby can see huge one-piece composite fuselage barrels made from carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). Each 787 contains approximately 77,000 pounds of CFRP, made with 51,000 pounds of pure carbon fiber. In Toulouse, France, Airbus adopted a different yet similar approach to manufacture its A350.
The Airbus A350’s fuselage is constructed with large-scale skin-stringer panels made of CFRP. According to Airbus, the primary structure of the aircraft is composed of CFRP by weight, accounting for approximately 53 percent. CFRP is extremely strong and light fiber-reinforced plastics that contain carbon fibers, and the use of CFRP on modern aircraft ensures a high strength-to-weight ratio and stiffness of the structure.
During the 2024 Haneda Airport runway collision, a Japan Airlines A350 aircraft collided with a Coast Guard plane during landing and immediately ignited fires that destroyed both aircraft. Surprisingly, all 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board evacuated through the plane’s evacuation slides. According to Graeme Baker from BBC News, the fuselage made of CFRP appeared to have withstood the initial impact of the collision and fire relatively well. This crucial factor enhances the durability and resilience of the airplane’s structure and provides passengers and crew members with extra time to evacuate.
Equally transformative is the industrial logic behind these aircraft. Another unique characteristic of modern aircraft manufacturing is that the airplane is not built from scratch. Boeing and Airbus typically outsource the production of different parts to businesses worldwide. After each part is produced, Boeing and Airbus use their specialized aircraft to transport aircraft parts and outsize cargo to the final assembly factory plant. The final aircraft are, in effect, assembled from large-scale modules whose quality is assured in controlled factory conditions. The combination of advanced materials and modular production is precisely the formula the United States now needs to modernize its building and infrastructure sector.
CFRP’s mechanical advantages over steel are well-documented. It has tensile strengths, high fatigue resistance, and immunity to corrosion. Buildings where corrosion drives design, such as parking decks, coastal bridges, and chemical plants, must pour extra concrete solely to protect the steel. Swap steel for CFRP, and much of that protective cover can be eliminated. Germany’s Carbonhaus research building illustrates the potential. By replacing steel rebar with carbon fiber grids, engineers halved wall thicknesses and projected a 70 percent reduction in life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions relative to conventional reinforced concrete.
CFRP also excels in rehabilitation. A Texas Department of Transportation study on shear-strengthening large bridge girders demonstrated that anchored CFRP laminates restored or exceeded the original capacities without necessitating lane closures, which would have been required with steel plate bonding. In seismic work, laboratory tests on reinforced concrete beam-column joints have reported capacity jumps above 50 percent after the joints were wrapped with CFRP sheets. The composites thus offer a non-intrusive means of extending the life and safety of thousands of structures that underpin national mobility and economic resilience.
Modular construction transplants the aerospace production model to real estate. Entire rooms or structural bays, complete with mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems, leave the factory 80 to 90 percent complete. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) finds that such industrialized processes can reduce material waste and compress schedules by 30 to 50 percent, as fabrication continues in parallel with site preparation within a weather-shielded environment. A Journal of Building Engineering meta-study cited by the Modular Building Institute reports an average 67 percent reduction in energy consumption during the building phase when work is shifted off-site. The Waste-and-Resources Action Program (WRAP) field measurements indicate a reduction in timber, plastic, cardboard, and concrete waste of up to 90 percent.
Recognizing these advantages, the American Concrete Institute and International Code Council have both adopted consensus standards for both glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) and fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials. Meanwhile, federal agencies are beginning to recognize these benefits. The General Services Administration’s 2024 Pre-engineered/Prefabricated Buildings Ordering Guide outlines procurement pathways and estimates upfront cost savings of up to 35 percent for suitable projects. The technical path for broader adoption exists. What is missing is policy momentum to move pilot projects into mainstream procurement. Modular uptake across the state and local jurisdictions still remains patchy, hampered by fragmented codes, inconsistent inspection regimes, and unfamiliarity with the supply chain.
When Orville Wright first left the ground, he could not have foreseen that carbon fibers thinner than a human hair would one day help carry 300 people across oceans or brace slender concrete shells against earthquakes. Yet aerospace’s trajectory from wood and fabric to carbon composites and global module logistics offers a clear roadmap for terrestrial builders. By embracing the strength-to-weight efficiencies of CFRP and the disciplined modularity of aircraft assembly, U.S. infrastructure policy can deliver buildings and bridges that are lighter, faster, cleaner, and safer, while reinforcing America’s tradition of engineering leadership.
The Wright brothers’ workshop in Dayton demonstrated that transformative advances could arise when materials science meets manufacturing ingenuity. 122 years later, the same fusion can help the United States to meet its housing shortage, decarbonize its concrete-and-steel footprint, and build resilient structures fit for a warming, rapidly urbanizing world. The runway to that future is already laid. It is time for policymakers, engineers, and constructors to take off.
Written by Minxing Liu, Public Policy Intern
The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii) is an independent, national research and educational organization working to advance innovation across industry and public policy. The only nationwide public policy think tank dedicated to infrastructure, Aii explores the intersection of economics, law, and public policy in the areas of climate, damage prevention, eminent domain, energy, infrastructure, innovation, technology, and transportation.